Still Sane
by Twilight Joltik
Summary: Veneziano approaches Seborga with a proposition that hopefully won't come to pass for a very long time. One-shot, Italy Brothers and Acqua Alta-centric


_**AN- I had this idea and I hate myself for it. But also I love it. So now you all have to read it. Thanks for reading, I only own my own ideas, and please enjoy! -Twilight Joltik**_

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 _Still Sane_

 _By Twilight Joltik_

"Seborga, can I talk to you for a minute?"

His heart stopped the second he realized Veneziano had called him by his actual name. Not Seb, not Fratello, just Seborga.

Slowly, he turned to look at his older brother, who was leaning against his doorway, looking a bit paler than usual. He seemed less alive, his smile more a grimace.

"You okay, Vene?", he asked as he stumbled in.

Veneziano nodded. "I'm just fine," he assured him, but his voice made the sentiment sound hollow.

Venice. It had to be Venice again. Only floods could drain his brother so completely.

So Seborga searched in himself, searched for a smile to ease his brother's pain. Think of fresh mozzerella, of sunny days with friends, of shining nights admiring the beauty around him…

Lightly, a kind smile appeared, and he could almost feel some of the tension melt from the air.

A dull thud, and Veneziano sat down beside him on the bed. "So, um, I don't really know how to say this…", his brother began. "But I, um, I want you to do a favor for me."

Normally, he would assume his brother just wanted to borrow a shirt or him to model something for a drawing. But normally, his brother's voice lacked this gravity, this odd combination of hesitation and bluntness. There was only one right answer: "Anything!"

The grimace Veneziano bore relaxed into a bit of a grin. "Okay, um, so you know how I'm dying?"

His own smile plummeted off his face like a stone off a cliff. He knew it, he knew it far too well.

"Well, um, when I die, it'll make Romano the main representative of Italy," he went on. "And I can't stop thinking, Roma'll get really stressed out with that!"

That was what he was worried about? Romano's health? It was humorous, in the most perverse way possible.

"Um, so," his brother went on. "Plus, since we've been doing it together for so long, I thought he might get a little lonely. So, do you think maybe when I'm gone, you can take over some of my duties as a representative of Italy? To help Romano out?"

It was Seborga's heart doing the stopping now. Veneziano was grinning, and he started to get the sense that he wasn't just saying this for Romano's sake.

He tried to imagine it. At a world meeting, sitting beside his oldest- well, by that time, only brother. Respected. Included.

It could mean a lot for not only himself, but his people and his friends. Sealand would kill for that opportunity, the offer was generous as much as it was practical.

The way Veneziano seemed to light up as his spinning head nodded in acceptance made Seborga feel a bit sick. This was a promise, that his life would keep going, even after another had stopped.

But he didn't want to evolve, he didn't want to be better. He just wanted his fratello to live.

Tears started pouring out of his eyes, and he quickly wrapped his brother up in a hug. Sobs came out of his mouth. He could feel Vene's heartbeat, steadily pounding out like the ticking of a clock. He could feel his body, his warmth.

As he sobbed, he felt his big brother rub circles on his back. "It's fine, fratello," he assured him softly. "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. I just wanted to bring it up, just in case."

Just in case. Yes, just in case. They didn't even know if Veneziano would really die when his "heart" sank into the sea, and even then, it would surely be a long time coming. It was a safeguard, not a certainty.

Every time things would get worse, he'd keep telling himself that.

The future was far, the future wasn't his concern. The future existed in a limbo between truth and fiction, between prediction and certainty, and in it, he would have to be strong. But for now, he could let tears fall in sheets and feel everything passing through his head.

Even as he walked into his first meeting, dressed in black at at Romano's side, he tried to keep saying that.


End file.
